Why I started a run club in Jamaica

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Happy Sunday and thank you for opening today’s newsletter! Today I hosted the Kickoff Run for my brand new run club in Jamaica called Sweat & Salty Run Club.

If you’ve been following along my other channels like Instagram or TikTok, you’d know that one of my favourite hobbies is running. This run club allows me to share that love for running with other people, and to bring more and more people into the sport to build a community around something that I love.

After joining multiple run clubs throughout my running career, I’ve realized that what brought me back week after week is the friends that you can make along the way to keep you accountable. We had a great turnout in the first run, but I’m even more excited to build a community of people that keep each other coming back, to get active and fit and feel good in their bodies as they run.

The power of community

When I had the idea to start a run club, I had to first think deeply about why I was drawn to join a run club myself. Yes, I loved running, but I run by myself all the time. To some extent too, I might even prefer to run by myself at my own pace than with other people. So why did I join a running club in high school, then in college and then after graduating and moving to Miami too?

The other day, I read an article about “The rise of running clubs” and it talked a lot about how post-pandemic, people are searching for communities again and run clubs provide a great way to meet new people in a relatively low-barrier to entry way. You just show up (maybe pay a small fee for administrative costs) and then hit the roads.

I’ve made lots of friends through run clubs, and what a run club does is forces you to come back to see those friends. You know you’ll see that friend you made at run club the next week, and that’ll probably be the only place you’ll see them too, so you better go to make sure you can catch up week over week.

It’s amazing. It’s genius. And it feels great to get to know people through an activity that also is inherently good for both of you too.

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It takes a community to build a community

One of the things that I learnt from hosting my kickoff run club this morning is that things like this require people. I mean of course a community requires people, but what I mean is that it’s not something that can be built alone.

My family and friends were amazing in helping me out with logistics this morning, to make everyone feel safe and the run feel organized. It is such a blessing that I have a community of people around me that are willing to show up for me and with me to help me to build this thing into something great.

To me, reflecting on the fact that it takes a community to build a community makes me feel immensely grateful to be uniquely positioned to even do something like start a run club in Jamaica. It demonstrates to me that people can come together in a positive way, and that people want to be around other people.

It’s so easy to forget that humans are social beings and that we need to be around other people for fulfilment and happiness.

Conclusion

Confession: I was really nervous going into the Kickoff Run this morning. There were so many variables to think about, and so many things to be sure happened and in a timely manner. There was safety, there was music, there was branding, cupcakes and so many other things to think about, but with the help (especially of my family) we did it.

But the exciting part about starting a run club isn’t successfully hosting a kickoff run, it’s that this is only the beginning. I’m excited to build this community, challenge myself to show up and to be consistent, and to also challenge the members to do the same.

It’s not easy to show up week after week, but what I’ve also learnt is that having the option to show up every week makes it that much more easy to show up when you can. For me though, I’m excited to take on the challenge of community building, and even more so excited to take on the challenge of consistency.

It’s the first week of many, and as this community grows I know it’ll get easier and more fun, but for now we stay running and if you haven’t yet, go follow @sweatandsaltyrunclub on Instagram and keep up with our journey to building a #RunningJamaica!

Until next Sunday,
Justin